Effect of adding Dunaliella algae to fish diet on lead acetate toxicity and gene expression in the liver of Nile tilapia

Abstract

The present study was intended for investigating the effect of lead acetate toxicity (5 or 10 mg lead acetate/liter water), Dunaliella algae (11 g/kg diet)-supplemented diet and their interaction in Nile tilapia (60 days). 180 fish were divided into six groups according to lead concentration and Dunaliella supplementation. Results revealed that lead significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced growth performance parameters and decreased serum antioxidant enzyme activities, fish body crude protein, and liver antioxidant enzymes gene expression. Moreover, the lead residue was significantly increased with marked degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes. But dietary supplementation of Dunaliella algae with/without lead improved measurements.

Keywords:

• Oreochromis niloticus
• antioxidants
• lead acetate
• pathology

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the EPCRS Excellence Center (certified according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001) and Plant Pathology and Biotechnology Lab. (accredited according to ISO 17025), Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt, where the laboratory investigations were carried out. Great thanks are extended to all staff members in Animal Health Research Institute, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific financial support from funding agencies in public, commercial, or not-profit sectors.